Children at Maurine Country School near Faith, South Dakota show off their new books they received from Faith UMC. Photo courtesy of Pastor Connie Eichinger.

There are less than 400 people in Faith, South Dakota and the population is declining. The town is in northwest South Dakota, 100 miles to the nearest McDonald’s. On the first day of school, 87 children received a book of their very own from Faith United Methodist Church. 
 
Rev. Connie Eichinger serves two congregations, The United Methodist Church in Faith, South Dakota and Marcus Presbyterian. Each week she journeys 100 miles from her home in Sturgis, South Dakota to provide spiritual leadership to 70 congregants in the two churches. “Sometimes I feel like John Wesley driving along the highway,” she says.
 
Last year the Faith UMC partnered with one teacher to give every child in the classroom a book. The teacher gave birth to her third child and decided to become a stay-at-home mom. Eichinger did not want the project to end.
 
“I wanted to carry on the idea,” said Eichinger. “We decided to go big and give a book to every child in grades K-6 in the Faith School District.”
 
The congregation applied for and received a grant from the Faith Community Foundation. The award required matching funds. So, Eichinger appealed to the congregations. They whole-heartedly met the challenge.
 
A member of the Marcus congregation is a book distributor and offered books at a discount for the effort. She selected 87 books, for various grade levels and interests, and had the books shipped.
 
On the first day of school, the books were distributed. The Faith School District has two elementary school sites, one in town and another northwest of town, Maurine Country School— a one-room school for grades K-6. Pastor Connie went to Maurine to distribute the books. The children selected their book by grade level. When they returned to their desk, they immediately started reading the book they had received. “It was really fun to pick out my own book,” said one child.
 
Rev. Eichinger sees the project as a way to connect with children and serve the community. “It is important for a child to know that someone in a church in their community cares for them,” she says. “They need to know that someone cares about what they do. Reading is so important. When a child can read, they can learn forever.”
 
The congregation and Pastor Connie are proud of the community and the quality of opportunity that is there. “Just because they live in a small town does not mean less quality, small-town does not equal small mind,” says Eichinger.  
 
Faith UMC wants to connect with kids. The hope is that the books will spark a fire for reading about new and different things and places, and the potential to make this a better world. 
 
“I have lunch at the school when I can,” Pastor Connie says. “I like to listen to their stories. I hope the books will help us connect and have conversation. I hope to ask questions like: What was your book about? Did you loan the book to someone? Praise be to God for these children and their potential!”